Jasmine
by elektra30
Summary: Artie was sure that he and Tina had their own happy places being with Brittany and Mike respectively. That was, until her lingering scent reminded him of what they used to have.


**Disclaimer:** Glee belongs to Fox and its creators/writers. I'm only expounding on their ideas to fulfill my dream of seeing Artina back on screen.

**A/N:** This was a one-shot written a year ago, after 2x09 Special Education aired. Felt like tidying up loose ends today and decided to post it. Hope y'all enjoy!

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><p>It was the first time he had lied to his parents. He hadn't any last-minute insane biology group project meeting to attend (he had conjured up a Rachel Berry-like team member persona to convince his mother that this meeting was <em>compulsory<em>). He just wanted to stay in the auditorium and sing a little tune to himself. This little whim had him persuading a second figure of authority – Mr. Schue – to let him have the auditorium till nine at night. He had a bit of luck that the debate team was staying late in school to practice, but he had to lend weight to his plea with a text message by his mother – thinking that she was addressing the Rachel Berry persona – who had firmly declared she will pick him up no later than nine.

Anyway, with that out of the way, Artie found himself fairly contented basking in the sole auditorium spotlight.

_Well, open up your mind and see like me  
>Open up your plans and damn you're free<br>Look into your heart and you'll find love, love, love  
>Listen to the music of the moment people, dance and sing<br>We're just one big family  
>And it's our God-forsaken right to be loved, love, love, love...<em>

He wasn't one of those people who insisted on a solo, but occasionally it made him feel liberated to be belting at the top of his voice, or just hearing the soft croon of his own voice linger in the echoes. Somehow, music was like a magic balm that could soothe everything.

_So I won't hesitate no more, no more  
>It cannot wait, I'm sure<br>There's no need to complicate  
>Our time is short<br>This is our fate  
>I'm yours<em>

The last few chords echoed around the auditorium. Satisfied, he placed the guitar back in its holder and wheeled himself off-stage.

The hallways were empty. There were some voices coming from somewhere, but Artie assumed the debaters were just getting fired up. He wheeled past the lockers, wryly remembering the first day of school when he was assigned the topmost locker. There was a hassling process of having to switch lockers, for some ridiculous administrative reason, but Tina had been in the office to help him yell at the office lady.

The corners of his mouth quirked a little. Tina was certainly number one on the office lady's hitlist then, even though she had transformed into a mouse after their first encounter.

He should have guessed she was faking her stutter when she had fluently strung out a warning to the lady to hurry his application or they'd be sued for disability discrimination.

The quirk in his mouth disappeared. He was in the hallway where Tina and he had raced down in wheelchairs. He hadn't been plagued by thoughts of her as often as he used to, but somehow when he did think of her, there was something bitter in his mouth that he couldn't get rid of for hours.

Strangely enough, at the end of the hallway, there was some light. No debater would be in that classroom for sure, because it was the glee club's practice room. Artie's eyebrows shot up as he wheeled towards the light. There couldn't be a glee club member practising at this time, could there...?

"Tina?" He stared at the girl sitting awkwardly in the middle of the practice room floor, her eyes fixed on the ground.

Tina's head shot up, and immediately Artie could tell she was crying. She quickly rubbed her eyes.

"Oh – my god. Tina, are you okay?" He wheeled towards her, only to realise that she must have taken a bad fall, for she was wincing. "Gee, what were you doing?"

Tina groaned. "Can you please not ask first – and – give me a hand... ow!"

She grimaced as Artie linked his arm under hers to pull her up. Her right leg wobbled so badly that the moment she straightened herself, she almost tumbled onto Artie.

"Whoa, girl, whoa..." Artie gripped her arm tightly. "Erm... here," he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her crashing down onto his lap. Tina let out a gasp, but he was already wheeling her towards the front row of chairs. Then he helped her to get into one of those chairs.

"Sorry," muttered Tina, wincing as she shifted her weight in the chair. "Argh, it's killing me."

Artie pushed the chair beside her away and wheeled into the space. "Give me your leg."

"What?"

"Your leg," he said, impatiently. "Gotta see how bad it is."

Tina reluctantly placed her leg in his lap, grimacing as she did. After Artie gingerly unbuckled her shoe, what he saw made him scrunch up his face. Tina bent over, then sighed.

"It's gonna look like an elephant's stump tomorrow."

"It already looks like one."

"Thanks." Tina glared at him.

"Sure as hell no nurse around this area at this time. And it's raining out there. Anybody picking you up?"

Tina went pink in the face. "N-no."

Artie arched an eyebrow. "What are you doing here in the night anyway?"

Tina tried to retract her foot, but Artie's expression made her sigh and she brought up her left foot to rest on his lap as well. "I was dancing."

"In the night? Mr. Schue gave you permission?"

"Well..." Tina's pink deepened into scarlet. "Not exactly... I just wanted to practice without anybody seeing me."

"You've nothing to be ashamed of, Tina," said Artie, though he could feel himself flushing red just by saying that. "What's so special about this one?"

"Mike put together a number that we could show the glee club so I need to be in shape by then," said Tina, in a rush. "It's just that he has pretty high standards and I haven't been able to keep up so far."

Artie opened his mouth, then shut it again.

"What?" Tina eyed him suspiciously. Then she cocked her head to the side. "What are _you_ doing here then?"

"Unlike you, I have sought _legal_ means of honing my talent," said Artie, smirking. "I was in the auditorium."

Tina sighed. "Crap. Now I have no idea how to get home, 'cos a) my mom's gonna scream if she knew I was lying to her about going to a movie with Mike, and b) Mike's gonna cancel this whole idea if he knew about me injuring myself over this."

Artie shrugged. "I could get my dad to give you a lift home."

Tina bit her lip. "But Artie..."

"What, you can't handle being in the same vehicle as me? Relax, my dad won't pry if I tell him I met you by accident. Also, we could get you some ankle guts and medicine before you head home."

"So – what time's he coming?"

"Fifteen minutes' time?"

"Mm."

There was an awkward silence.

"Artie?" Tina finally ventured.

"Yeah?"

"How're you and Brittany?"

Artie found himself stiffening involuntarily. It wasn't a good topic to discuss with Tina at all. "Fine."

"You guys seem happy."

"We _are_ happy." Artie looked deeply at Tina, but she was just staring at her swollen ankle. He hesitated, then pointed at her ankle. "Is it okay if I –"

"Might help."

When he began to massage her ankle, he saw her cringe so hard that the tears were falling out of her eyes again. "Sorry... do you need me to –"

"It's okay... it throbs on its own anyway."

Artie pursed up his lips. The action of massaging her ankle was highly distracting; he really needed to find a better topic to converse with Tina.

"So what's the dance number about?"

_Okay, Artie, not the best topic around either._

"It's to the music of "Bubble Toes" by Jack Johnson. It's really cool and hilarious, the way Mike choreographed it," Tina's face brightened for an instant, "but really complicated as well. Mike does it really, really well. I just – have to practice."

"By Thursday? This is not gonna get better by Thursday."

"Way to rub it in, Artie. Pun _not _intended." She winced again as his thumb pressed down.

"I'm just stating a fact."

"I just hope this is a simple strain, not a proper sprain..."

"I don't think so."

Tina huffed. "Thanks for the encouragement."

"I'm not going to lie to you, Tina. You _can't_ dance in this state on Thursday. And you're gonna have to tell Mike about this."

"He's not going to dance with me anymore if he knows I sprained my ankle because of this!"

"Then just tell him you sprained it 'cos you fell in a drain or something."

Suddenly, Tina let out a guffaw. Artie stared at her. "What?"

"The idea of me – tumbling into a drain – like _this_," –she mimicked a horrified expression with her arms flailing about like an octopus– "is just way, way, _way_ ridiculous, oh God..." And she burst out into a fresh string of giggles.

Artie could only continue staring, his mouth twisted in amusement. She always laughed about the most ridiculous of scenarios, most of which were spun in that fantasy mind of hers. And when Tina laughed, it was hard not to get infected.

Tina's giggles subsided as she noticed him staring at her. "Don't judge me, Artie, I'm warning you."

"I always do," he said, with a tinge of affection.

Her smile disappeared, and he felt that the happiness in the room had dissipated along with it. "Artie, I miss you. I miss us. As friends."

His heart had leapt a little at the first few words, but when she had said '_as friends_', it sank a colossal depth.

"Mm."

"We don't talk anymore. I miss our nonsense."

"I have a lot of nonsense with Brittany," he cracked a smile, "you know the stuff she says _always_ cracks me up."

"Are you really happy?" There was a note in her voice that seemed almost desperate.

"I am, Tina, I am." And he wasn't lying. Brittany had a kind of innocence that made him smile and want to protect her and indulge her, something he didn't have to do with Tina because somehow, she seemed like such a strong character. Even though he knew Tina had her vulnerable moments, he never felt like she needed him in her life. It _had_ been largely his fault when he had made sexist remarks about her attire, but she had been steadfast in being herself, whereas she had tried to change for Mike Chang, donning that ridiculously whorish outfit of a zombie cheerleader. He wasn't good enough for her, whereas Brittany made him feel special, dedicating her Sectionals dance to him, and only him.

Yes, being with Brittany did make him happy, though he wasn't about to qualify that statement in front of Tina.

Tina's lips twitched into a half-smile. "I'm glad."

"You look happy with Mike too."

"I am, too."

"That's great."

"You know, maybe you wanna have a latte or something tomorrow morning? As friends?"

That dreaded word again. _Friends._

"Tina, I don't know how to put this in a really sensitive manner," said Artie, gently slipping Tina's shoes back onto her feet. "But I don't think it works like that anymore. We're in our own happy places now. There's no reason to go back near shades of grey that complicates things."

Tina winced a little as he fit the shoe onto her right foot. "It – it doesn't have to be so complicated."

"Yes, it is complicated," said Artie, as he helped her put her feet on the ground. "We last accused Brittany and Mike of having an affair and we were feeling awful. Can you imagine the slightest feelings in either of them if they sense any notion of us being close? I mean, Brittany probably won't notice much, but Mike? After what happened when you know – the Beiste incident –"

He blushed furiously, and he was sure Tina was feeling uncomfortable too.

"I didn't treasure you enough, Tina, I know. I was kinda hoping you'd like me better if I was on the football team, but that didn't make any difference. I've seen how you are with Mike, and I've seen how he treats you. I didn't know how to be a good boyfriend to you, Tina. And now, I'm not about to make that mistake with Brittany. I'm learning to appreciate her for who she is, to encourage her, to be there for her. I'm gonna go for her first motorcross race tomorrow to be her cheerleader." He cocked his head to get eye contact with Tina. "You understand?"

"So _that's_ why you joined the football team?"

"Don't judge me. Now I'm on it 'cos I like it."

_Yeah right, Artie. Way to get yourself stuck in that stinky locker room._

A second passed, and another, before Tina nodded. "Yeah, I understand. I'm happy, Artie, that you're able to think this way. It's nice to see you think about others."

"Stab my heart, eh?"

"I always do," she returned instantly, smirking.

He wheeled over to the teacher's desk to pick up Tina's bag. "My dad should be coming in a couple of minutes." He pointed to his lap. "I'm guessing you need a ride."

"Last one, huh." Tina looked at him so intensely that it made his heart ache.

"Don't need you taking another bad fall, do we?"

Tina clambered into his lap with his help. Even though she didn't put her arms around his neck like she used to (instead, she held onto the handles), it was crazily distracting wheeling them out without smelling the perfume on her. It was then that he realised that she was still wearing the same scent she used to when they were going out, and he had told her it smelt wonderful. She had been trying out different scents before he told her that was the absolute right one, and ever since, she had kept it on.

He had a hard time trying to control his breathing.

_You love the rose scent on Brittany. That's the one that drives you nuts. This jasmine one can't rival it._

Yes, rose. _Breathe, Artie, breathe._

"Artie? You're going the wrong way."

"Oh, sorry." He turned his wheelchair, thankful for the dim lighting to hide the hot flush spreading up his neck.

**FINE.**

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><p><strong>AN:** If you liked this little one-shot, you can check out my other Glee multi-chapter fic (WIP), which is my own take on season 3. Features Artina too (:


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